OBSERVATIONAL DESIGNS

unstructured and structured observations

unstructured

structured

😢produces qualitative data, which may be much more difficult to record and analyse

😢 may be a greater risk of observer bias, as there is no objective behavioural categories

accounts for all behaviour that is rich in detail. this method is appropriate when observations are in small scale and involve few ppts

😃 makes recording data easier and systematic

😃 data produced is likely to be quantitative, which means analysing and comparing the behaviour is much more straightforward

simplifies the target behaviours that will become the main focus of the investigation using behavioural categories

the rest of the branches only apply to structured

behavioural categories

these need to be clear, instead of a category that is subjective. they must be observable, measurable and self-evident

😃 makes data collection more structured and objective

first its necessary to break the target behaviour up into a a set of behavioural categories

sampling methods

in structured observations the researcher must use a systematic way of sampling their observations

event sampling = involves counting the number of times a particular behaviour occurs in a target individual or group

inter-observer reliability

first observers should familiarise themselves with the behavioural categories used

the observe the behaviour at the same time

to make data more objective and unbiased, observations should be carried out by at least two researchers

observers should compare the data they have recorded and discuss different interpretations

the data from the different observers is then compared to check for consistency

then observers should correlate the different scores

time sampling = involves recording behaviour within a pre-established time frame, eg every 30 seconds